Stander's appeal denied

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Johannesburg - Cycling ace Cherise Stander's appeal
to be included in the South African cycling team for the London Olympic
Games has been denied.

This was confirmed by Cycling SA Africa (CSA) on Thursday.

"The
appeal board has found that the selectors did indeed follow due process
in terms of both the final selection criteria and the CSA selection
policy, and has determined that the team selected was therefore within
their mandate," CSA said.

Stander's attorney Peter Assenmacher
claimed last week that CSA had deviated from communicated selection
criteria after the multiple SA champion and Beijing Olympian was
excluded from the three-rider women's road cycling team selected by CSA.

He said his client had considered approaching the high court "on an urgent basis".

The
riders selected were Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, ranked 23rd in the world,
Joanna van de Winkel (138th) and Robyn de Groot (323rd).

Stander,
who is ranked 98th in the world, had maintained that she complied with
the criteria, via merit exceeding that of two of the selected riders.

"Cycling
SA has attained the international ranking of 13th, and as a result
qualified three women cyclists, a significant improvement since Beijing
2008 where we qualified only one rider," CSA said on Thursday.

"This in itself is a remarkable achievement, and all credit goes to each and every athlete who contributed."

Unlike other team sports, CSA said a nation's overall ranking determined how many riders a country could send to the Games.

"In soccer and hockey, as long as a country qualifies, they get to send a full team, with reserves," the cycling body said.

"In
cycling, and specifically road cycling, which is widely regarded as a
team sport, the UCI qualification system restricts countries from
sending complete teams, even though that country may achieve
qualification.

"The only countries able to field a full team have to be ranked in the top five in the world."

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